Shin Hye-sun

2012–2016: Career beginnings and minor roles

Shin debuted as an actress through the TV drama School 2013, an installment of the long-running School series, after successfully passing the audition to cast in a schoolgirl role. She played a minor character with the same name as hers.^[2]

Shin began to land bigger roles in 2015 with Oh My Ghost and She Was Pretty.^[3][4] Though both titles were romantic comedies, her characters varied significantly.^[5]

2016–2017: Breakthrough

Her breakthrough came in 2016 with Five Enough.^[6] Her role as a gullible, naively-romantic woman and her pairing with actor Sung Hoon gained popularity among the viewers.^[7] The same year, she appeared in the fantasy-romance drama The Legend of the Blue Sea.^[8]

In 2017, she starred in the mystery thriller film A Day.^[9] Shin then played a key figure in an acclaimed crime thriller series Stranger.^[10][11] Soon after, she was cast in her first lead role in a television drama with KBS2's drama My Golden Life.^[12] The drama was a major hit in South Korea and surpassed 40% ratings,^[13] leading to an increased recognition for Shin.^[14][15] In addition, she received various offers from the advertising industry and producers of movies and dramas.^[16]

2018–2019: Artistic characters

In 2018, Shin was cast as a lead in the SBS drama special The Hymn of Death alongside Lee Jong-suk. She played the role of Yun Sim-deok, Korea's first professional soprano singer.^[17]

The same year, she starred alongside Yang Se-jong in the SBS romance comedy drama Still 17, as an aspiring violinist whose life turned upside down due to an accident.^[18]

In 2019, Shin starred in the KBS2 fantasy romance drama Angel's Last Mission: Love alongside Kim Myung-soo, as a ballerina who has no interest in love.^[19]

2020–present: Film debut and rising popularity

In 2020, she was cast to play her first lead role in the legal film Innocence, as a lawyer who decides to defend her mother (Bae Jong-ok) from prosecution.^[20] She received positive reviews for her performance in the film and was nominated in the Best New Actress category at the 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards.^[21]

In November, she appeared in the caper story film Collectors with Lee Je-hoon, as an art curator Yoon^[22] and later in the tvN hit drama Mr. Queen in a dual lead role as both Kim So-yong (Queen Cheorin) as well as Jang Bong-hwan, a male chef from 2020 whose soul travels back in time and gets trapped in Kim So-yong's body. Shin was nominated for 57th Baeksang Arts Awards in the category Best Actress (TV) for her performance in Mr. Queen^[23] and the branch of Best New Actress (Film) in the Innocence.^[23]

On December 14, 2021, Shin renewed again her contract with YNK Entertainment.^[24]

In 2023, Shin played the lead role of Ban Ji-eum in See You in My 19th Life as a woman who can remember all of her previous lives and wants to reconnect with a man from her previous 18th life. She also played the lead role in the drama Welcome to Samdal-ri alongside Ji Chang-wook. It follows the story of a photographer who returns to her hometown after suffering a fall from grace, rekindling an unfinished romance.^[25]

In April 2025, Shin has signed an exclusive contract with the new company Management Seesun.^[26]

In 2026, Shin starred in the Netflix mystery thriller television series The Art of Sarah and portrayed several characters with different personalities.^[27][28]

Film

Television series

Television shows

Web shows

Hosting

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations

State honors

Listicles